Taylor Wimpey leads housebuilders lower

Away from the swine flu there are other things for investors to worry about, for example the state of the UK housing market.

News that the number of mortgages approved in March was down by a quarter compared to the same time last year has hit shares in the UK housebuilders. Taylor Wimpey, said to be considering a cash call to bolster its balance sheet, has fallen 2.75p to 43.75p, while Barratt Developments is down 7.5p at 148.5p. Persimmon is 8p lower at 389.25p and Redrow has dropped 8p to 204p.

Overall the UK market is still in negative territory on the swine flu fears, but off its worst levels following a slightly better than expected opening on Wall Street. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is down around 40 points in early trading, with the FTSE 100 now 16.56 points lower at 4139.43.

The dominant pattern remains the same: travel and hotel companies are down while pharmaceutical groups are higher. GlaxoSmithKline is up 49p to £10.55 after it said it was urgently looking at increasing production of its relenza drug and would start discussions with local authorities to manufacture a vaccine to help prevent the new strain.